Turn Me to Gold
by OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: Kairi had never liked yellow... and when her time training and in the Keyblade War is surrounded by that color, she thinks that maybe that somehow had something to do with her failures there. But her failures don't have to stay that way, right? Maybe she can finally succeed in finding Sora! Kairi-centric. Character study. Friendships. During KHII. Leading into KHIV.


Kairi had watched this show once, where a student—in his first wrestling match—had essentially won a tournament by accident... And the person he'd won against had then demanded he go up against him again. And when the winner hadn't accepted the rematch, the loser kept getting up in his face and calling him "yellow": "yellow, yellow, yellow", to be exact.

And for the life of her... ever since she'd come to train with Merlin, Kairi couldn't get the memory of this show out of her head.

She was just so concerned that she was going to completely fail in the Keyblade War, and her loved ones would only remember how far she'd fallen when all was said and done.

And that was why—as beautiful as this green space Merlin had provided them to train in was—Kairi couldn't help but to blanch, when she saw dandelions all around her and even stepped on a few of them by accident.

Gods, did she hope she didn't somehow just suck their yellowness into herself by doing so...

And Lea (who Kairi still wasn't sure how she felt about yet) must have noticed her discomfort when she did this:

Because cocking his head to the side and looking at her rather uncertainly, he asked: "Are you okay, Kairi?"

And Kairi was quick to nod and try and reassure her companion that she was.

...But she had her own doubts on the subject.

And maybe it was because of that—and not so much being affected by yellow—that Kairi felt that she couldn't get her body to move the way she wanted it to during training that day.

...

The next time Kairi had thoughts about yellow—though this didn't come until much later, because she'd been doing good to banish it from her mind—was when she surprisingly ran into Sora one night at the Mysterious Tower.

Kairi was getting ahead of herself, she knew… but she'd come to ask Master Yen Sid if she could take the Mark of Mastery in the near future: Perhaps it would give her something to strive for even moreso, and then she could excel at training that way.

And if Sora and Riku had taken it, after having all their skills stripped and having to learn them again in the Dream Worlds, maybe it wasn't too out of the question that the Wizard might want to do the same for her.

Kairi thought to herself that since Merlin's plans didn't seem to be working for her, perhaps Master Yen Sid would want to try this sooner rather than later?

It was when Kairi was having these ideas, and trying to make her way to the former Keyblade Master's study, that she literally ran into Sora...

Who was shockingly rummaging through the Sorcerer's pantry for cookies?

…Once the two friends calmed down from being "attacked by someone" at ten 'o clock in the evening, and then got over how dumbfounded they were to be seeing each other before their meeting in the Keyblade Graveyard (something neither had thought would happen), Sora was quick to explain his side of the story.

"Sorry, Kairi. We ran out of food in the gummi ship, if ya can believe it. So, I thought I'd borrow some food from Master Yen Sid here, for Donald, Goofy, and myself. But I didn't know it was so late here! Hehe." Sora said the last bit, as he scratched his head nervously and grinned at her.

And to that, Kairi could only laugh—enamored with Sora as she always was—as she assured him: "It's fine, Sora. If anyone should apologize, it's me. I actually had some idea of the time... and I was still coming to ask the Great Wizard about me taking the Mark of Mastery exam."

And it was when Kairi said that, that she became aware of what sort of cookies Sora was holding in his hands and could only gawk at them.

They were mostly harmless, really—though Kairi had always thought that the frosting on these sugar cookies had almost seemed cemented on—but she couldn't get over the ghastly color of them.

...It wasn't even that she disliked them in particular—she admired these treats greatly… And it was perhaps in having had too many of them before her adventure last year, that she'd been unable to fit through the bars of her prison…

Before Kairi's mini freak-out, Sora had started to ask Kairi something about the Mark of Mastery-she'd heard him begin to utter the words—but he seemed to quickly change his mind when he saw the look she was now giving the dessert.

"You never were big on yellow," Sora muttered to himself—now hiding the sugary items behind his back, which Kairi was thankful for. "…Which is maybe a bit weird, since you're a princess of light. But who am I to judge?"

Kairi—not wanting to hint at just how much she'd perhaps lost her mind, or to keep Sora from his duties any longer—gave the boy a quick hug, and told him if there was any reason she disliked yellow... it was because they marked the stars she'd always have to lose him and Riku behind... But she'd selflessly do so, anyway.

And the two of them bid each other the sad farewell they'd known they'd have to for the time being, but did so with grace.

…

Sora was busy talking to Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ventus, Aqua, and Lea in the back of the gummi ship, so that was why he wasn't piloting it for once. At first, they thought they could just ask Donald to do it… but apparently there was a reason Sora had taken over flying from him. So Riku manning the helm, it was. And Kairi had come to see him, so he wouldn't get lonely.

"Question, Riku." the redhead said, as she leaned her arm over his shoulder and peered into her dear friend's face. "…Does the gummi ship look yellow to you?"

Riku shrugged, before he turned his attention to manning the controls again. "Ish? But it looks more cream or white to me. Why do you ask, Kairi? …Aside from the fact that you've never liked yellow."

The princess thought strongly of saying nothing... she didn't want to decrease morale, after all, or jinx anything… or put bad thoughts into anyone's head. But...

"It's just-" she began before she could stop herself, fiddling with her necklace as she did so... "I didn't have as much luck with my training as I would have hoped. And, yeah: paranoid and superstitious or not... I think it has something to do with yellow. That color... doesn't like me, ever since that man with those eyes kidnapped me as a child. And bad things seem to happen whenever I run into it."

Except for with people like Naminé, she of course wanted to add. But herhair was more white, anyway.

But before Kairi could voice that, Riku was already appraising her. "...Kairi, is this partly because you suddenly thought your charm wouldn't be enough to protect all of us... So, you decided to move up to a paopu for Sora and yourself, but now feel uncertain about that?"

The truth? Kairi hadn't consciously thought of that. But now that Riku had put it into her head, she couldn't deny that it was a possibility she did feel this way.

At the moment, she was just about to give Riku the lucky charm that Sora had recently returned to her… but Riku stopped her, with his fingers over her own.

"Kairi… I think you know better than anyone—my now girly-girl friend—why too much thought shouldn't be put into colors being cursed, or whatever. Surely Kingdom Hearts and the worlds gave them to us for a reason'."

And she couldn't argue with that, Kairi acknowledged inwardly with a smile.

So, telling herself to just entertain the bored Riku, like she'd meant to do since coming over here, Kairi couldn't help asking proudly: "So… what is this I hear about you wanting to save my Other, too?"

…

In the end, things at the Keyblade War did not go well for Kairi… and she knew that that was putting it mildly.

Sora was now dead… because she'd been unable to defend herself, been murdered-and hehad paid the ultimate price to bring her back.

And while it was so very foolish to be thinking about this now—because maybe her distracted thoughts during the Keyblade War were what had led to her doing so badly—she couldn't help thinking it had been yellow's fault.

And she found herself telling Donald and Goofy that now, as they quietly came to sit beside her—one on either side—on the dock.

"You know… I never understood why Sora didn't wear bright colors himself," Kairi explained—making sure to look at the court magician and captain of the royal guard in equal turn, even though she didn't feel quite up to it at the moment. "…After his first journey, I mean. Sora shone brighter than anyone else did, so why…?! I didn't get it.

"But now I wonder if it's because he subconsciously knew what had happened with Roxas, even then, and that… that guilt reacted to the Three Good Fairies striking him with their magic, and turned his outfit black. Because how could someone who stole the existence of another for themselves wear white… or something close to it, like yellow?"

"Kairi!" Donald quacked somewhat angrily, Kairi could tell. Perhaps thinking, in her grief, that she was now blaming Sora.

And Goofy frowned, as if thinking the same exact thing.

But Kairi swiftly let them know that that wasn't the case:

"Don't misunderstand. I don't blame Sora for the Roxas situation, or anything like it… It just happened without him knowing it… He had no control over it, it's true, but when he learned of it… he made certain to set it right.

"And maybe… maybe I'll be the same way, if you'll help me: I'll take a page out of Sora's book—and wear black myself: the way I should have after what I did to Naminé—but I'm going to look for him the way he always looked for me… and all will be right again."

Kairi could tell that Donald and Goofy wanted to argue her belief of colors, the way that everyone else had.

But she was glad that they both—so in-tune with each other—breathed a sigh at the same time, and seemed to think better of it.

And both the dog and duck took one of her hands into their own Keyblade-wielding ones.

The new trio—for the time being—watched the gummi ship that the King had gone to get for them coming their way.

And it was when they could hear the sounds of the engines, that Goofy chose to speak:

"The color yellow isn't all bad, Kairi: Why, isn't that the shade of the pendant Master Aqua enchanted for you, that first brought you to Sora? Push all the other versions of it away now, if ya must… But focus on that and your bond, and you're sure to find him!"

And as those words reached her, Kairi realized she'd heard something like them before: when she'd been in Sora's heart.

That special boy had been fretting that he would never find her or the King… and pondering how Donald and Goofy remained so cheerful and didn't worry.

But then Goofy had promised Sora that they would find what they were looking for, if they just believed in themselves: Something they'd just learned about in Neverland before that, even.

And hearing this was exactly the kind of medicine Kairi needed for her wound.

So Kairi let Goofy and them know this—as they were teleported into the gummi ship together: now headed somewhere with a dark castle.

Kairi's words sounded warmer—like a just-baked pie—than they had in a long time, and perhaps that was the answer to everything.

"Thank you… Donald… Goofy."

Together, they looked towards the horizon.


End file.
